Matthew 22:35-40 (NKJV) 35 Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” 37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
A lawyer asked Jesus a question that he believed would be difficult for Him to answer.
He was hoping to get Jesus to stumble, so the religious leaders could prove He was a false teacher.
But Jesus never blinked, answering his question effortlessly and with precision.
What Jesus told him is something we should all pay close attention to.
Why?
Because of those last few words that Jesus spoke; On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.
You see, what He said goes way beyond the Mosaic Law. It is the foundation of everything in God’s word.
First, “love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind”.
Put God first in everything. Simple and straight forward.
Second, “love your neighbor as yourself”.
The first is obvious. Putting God above all else should be easy for any of us to recognize as our most important priority.
The second one, though, may seem a bit more complicated once we understand the depth of it.
Loving our neighbor as ourselves sounds very easy and straight forward, right?
And it is, in principle. But the real-life application of that principle can confound the kindest of people when the rubber meets the road.
Loving others is one of the most difficult things we can be told we need to do.
Think about the person who cuts you off in traffic and causes you to nearly lose control of your vehicle.
Picture the person who purposely insults you or someone you love.
Think about the child who physically beat you up for no reason when you were a kid in school, making a mockery of you in front of all your schoolmates.
Consider the one who bullies your child.
Or ponder the situation when your elderly parent was assaulted and robbed by a wayward teenager.
Do any of those things make your blood boil, or cause you to bristle up just thinking about them?
That is exactly what I was referring to when I stated that loving others is the most difficult thing we will ever be told we need to do.
It is easy to love those who love us. But loving those who do us wrong is exponentially more difficult.
Yet, Jesus told us that this is second only to loving God.
Food for thought as we go through our day today.
Matthew 5:44-45 (NKJV) 44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie
Seven Seas Ministries
49 N Lamplighters Walk
Hampstead, NC 28443
401-439-3780
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